Ah now, this is a lovely little CD. The group i treni inerti began life a decade or so ago now as the trio of Ruth Barberan, Alfredo Costa Monteiro and Matt Davis, and when their first album came out as one of the very first Creative Sources releases however long ago Brian Olewnick wrote what to this day remains one of my favourite opening lines to a review- something like “Yeah I can hear you sigh, yet another trumpet/trumpet/accordion trio…” In 2012, as David has long left Barcelona the group exist as a duo, and on this release they still play trumpet and accordion, each adding some of those ubiquitous “objects” to the equation. What makes this new release on Jonas Kocher’s Flexion label so nice however is the recording location, outside in an olive orchard between 3 and 5AM on a September morning in 2010. From the outset we hear that familiar dull grey hum of a town or city at night, but it is augmented by the chirruping of insects throughout, and, quite wonderfully, at a few intervals, the deafening arrival of freight trains passing very close in the small hours of the night. The musicians play in and around these additional sounds, but even if they made no sound at all I suspect I would thoroughly enjoy this recording. I think the album is titled Luz Azul, but there is also a further description of the single piece of music on the disc calling it Track 1: ser res. Those familiar with the group’s history will notice that their penchant for palindromic names continues. Whatever the title, there is a single unedited forty-eight minute recording here. The job done on the outdoors recording and subsequent mastering are excellent, balancing the sounds of the environment and the sounds made by the musicians perfectly, at least until the first train passes at a little over fourteen minutes. The duo play in a slow, languid manner, perhaps as might be expected at such an hour of the night. Most of the sounds we hear are relatively long tonal sounds, though always with a degree of gritty vibration added. The sounds they make seem to come and go in swells, often faintly rhythmic sections layered together in a way that reminds me of tidal patterns, gentle swoops and soft swells rather than any great attack or sudden cuts into silence. The sounds feel natural, a nice accompaniment to the hum and buzz of the recording location, but also there is always a degree of grit in there, an edge as something is bowed, a fizz as the trumpet rasps as often as it purrs. Then there are the trains, which have a beauty of their own, a deep rooted beauty for me as they sound so similar to the trains I can hear here if I open the windows and listen. The music doesn’t feel tense, but organic, flowing maybe, not droning as such but liquid and blending together with everything at least until the trains wipe the slate clean and leave it all to build again. Luz Azul is very lovely indeed. Its a very lovingly captured example of two musicians with a long artistic relationship together working in harmony both with each other’s musical approach and also with the place and time they have chosen to make music together. It feels a real privilege to be offered a place in this through this CD, an ear onto that semi still night of music, the chance to imagine the place, picture the surroundings as much as the musicians, transport something of that atmosphere via the imagination. A wonderful recording then. Richard Pinnel / The Watchful Ear